Broken
by FantasticFicLad
Summary: In the aftermath of Infinite Crisis, the Titans are broken. Now, with an injury putting Ravager on the disabled list, can the return of an old friend in an unexpected way help turn things around? RavagerRobin. Set OYL
1. A little accident

Author's Notes: This fic is set in the One Year Later period of Teen Titans, after Infinite Crisis and the death of Superboy. However, Kid Devil is not a member of the team in this fic. Superboy and Impulse fans shouldn't despair, though. They'll both be back in this story eventually. ;)

Broken

By Millenniumrex

It had been a hard battle, and no one had gotten off unscathed. That was becoming more and more common for the Teen Titans, in their current weakened state. With Kid Devil and Beast Boy having left to join the Doom Patrol, the Titans were down to Robin, Wonder Girl, Cyborg, and their newest member, Rose Wilson – The Ravager. And in battles like today's showdown with the Brotherhood of Evil, four members just weren't enough. They had won, but they weren't in any shape to stop any robberies that night. Cyborg, grumbling to himself about how they really needed to get some new members, stalked off to his lab to perform repairs on his machine parts. Wonder Girl, sporting a nasty gash on her right arm, went off to her room to be alone, as she often did since her boyfriend Conner was killed in the Crisis. Robin was about to excuse himself, check if his aching ribs were broken or just bruised, and get back to work on his secret Superboy cloning project, when he saw Rose slowly limping towards her room.

"Hey, you okay, Rose?"

"I'm fine, Rob. Just bruised my foot. You should have warned me that Cinderblock is made out of rock all over. Definitely takes the fun out of kicking a guy in the nuts."

Robin shrugged and left to go to his room. Rose gritted her teeth and tried to ignore the pain in her foot as she walked. She really hadn't wanted to let on how much it hurt. After all, the Titans had been decent enough to take her in after she left her father, Deathstroke. The least she could do was try not to slow them down. Besides, she had worked through far worse pain than this. Deathstroke had never let her back down, no matter how badly she was hurt. To him, pain was just another obstacle to overcome, and failure to overcome it was punished severely. She had escaped from him, but not before losing an eye to his insane demands of loyalty. She shuddered as she thought back to her childhood with him, but reminded herself that it was past now. She had friends, and as long as she never let them think she was weak, it would be fine. Getting to her room, she slumped down on the bed and removed her boot as gingerly as she could. Silently cursing at the pain, she inspected her foot, which was rather swollen and sporting a rather nasty bruise at the side. She could deal with the pain, she thought to herself. She just had to hope it wasn't broken, or she was completely screwed.

"Superboy Cloning attempt #98 – unsuccessful"

Robin cursed and pounded his fist against the genome tanks as the cloning machinery announced its latest failure. He didn't understand it. He had all the variables. Superman's DNA. Luthor's DNA. Why wasn't it working? A nagging part of him suggested that maybe Conner wouldn't have wanted this, but he pushed it aside. Tim wanted his best friend back. He knew how much Cassie missed her boyfriend, and for that matter, how much everybody missed Superboy. One way or another, he'd find a way to bring him back.

After initiating another cloning attempt, he headed back upstairs and found Cyborg waiting for him at the table. Tim looked up to Cyborg, since he was coming from the first generation of Titans, but that didn't mean he was going to tell him exactly what he was doing down there. He wasn't ready to tell anyone yet.

Cyborg took a sip of soda and sighed. "I don't think it's working, Robin."

Robin practically did a double take. "What's not working?"

"The team. Like it is now. I mean, I know we're trying to keep it together, but there aren't enough of us. Cassie's not exactly on her game right now, after Conner, and you can protest, but I know you've been off too. Rose has really been trying, but she's new to the hero thing, and even though we trust her, I really doubt Cassie does. We've got to get some new members. Members we all actually agree on."

"I agree. But who? Bart hasn't been the same since he came back from the Speed Force. He knows he's always got a place on the team, but it's up to him to take it. Raven's off doing her own thing. I hope she'll be back soon, but we've got to let her do her own thing. I'd love to pull some people back in from Young Justice, but I don't know if they want to get back in. Being a hero isn't as fun as it used to be."

Cyborg shook his head. "I hear you. But we've got to do something. With Gar and Kid Devil off with the Doom Patrol, we don't have a team. We don't even have a fifth wheel."

At this point, Wonder Girl walked in. She looked like she had recently been crying, but was trying her best not to show it. "Hey, have either of you guys talked to Rose? We passed each other in the hallway, and she didn't even try to insult me. Something's off."

"She seemed okay earlier. Her foot was bothering her, but she didn't seem to think it was serious."

Cassie rolled her eyes. "Yeah, Kid Deathstroke never lets anyone see her cry. Look, I don't like the girl, but we can't exactly afford to lose any more members. Although if she's injured, at least she can't betray us too easily."

Robin's voice turned oddly defensive suddenly. "You know, she's trying. This hasn't been easy for any of us, but Rose is trying to turn her back on her past. The least you could do is give her a chance."

"You so have a thing for her."

Robin sputtered. Maybe a little, he thought to himself. She was rather pretty. But that didn't mean he was going to admit it.

Rose had been holding a pack of frozen peas to her foot and elevating it for an hour, but it wasn't feeling any better. She thought for a minute that maybe she should just swallow her pride and tell someone, but she put it out of her mind. "Stupid!", she cursed herself silently. "What were you thinking kicking a guy made out of stone? Leave the superfreaks to the powered members!". Her self-chastening was interrupted by a knock at the door. She really didn't want to talk to anyone, so she turned up her music and hoped whoever it was would take the hint. No such luck. A second later, the door opened, and Robin walked in. Rose hurriedly threw the icepack and pillow aside and leapt out of bed as best she could, to try to give them impression that she was fine.

It didn't work out quite like she intended. The pain in her foot had gotten much worse, and the second she landed on it, a searing pain shot up her leg. A second later, despite her efforts, she was on the floor clutching it and biting back tears. Robin, seeing her in pain, gently lifted her up and placed her on the bed. He elevated her foot on the pillow and examined it. When he lightly pressed on the site of the bruise, she hissed in pain.

"Rose, why didn't you tell me it was this bad?"

"I thought I could work through it. I didn't want you to think of me as weak."

Robin stifled a laugh. The thought of this incredibly determined girl worrying about anyone thinking she was weak was slightly amusing, but he didn't want her to think he was laughing at her. After gently reapplying the ice pack, he said "Well, this isn't something you can walk off. I learned the hard way that you've got to give injuries time to heal. I think we'd better get your foot x-rayed first."

Rose sighed and allowed herself to be lifted into Robin's arms and carried to the med lab. Despite her embarrassment and pain, she had to admit that being carried by him did have its pluses….

Cyborg, in his role as unofficial team doctor, was examining x-rays while Rose waited impatiently for the diagnosis. After what seemed like an eternity, he turned to her and Robin.

"Well, I can see two small fractures in the bones in your foot. It should heal on its own without surgery, but you will need a cast and crutches for 4-6 weeks. "

Rose looked crestfallen as Cyborg began to apply plaster-soaked bandages to her foot. She tried as hard as she could not to let it show, but the thought of being completely useless to the team for over a month was too much for her to handle, and she let tears roll down her face. Robin, seeing this, gently wiped them away and held her hand.

"Hey, what's wrong? It's just a fracture. You'll be fine before you know it. "

Rose shook her head. "You guys don't have any use for me now. You'll get rid of me just like my father did."

Robin and Cyborg shared a sad look. They had tried their best to make Rose feel like one of the team when she joined, but it was clear that she was still worried about having a place at Titans Tower. Neither one knew exactly what to say, so the three of them sat in silence as Cyborg finished applying the cast to Rose's leg. When he was finished, Rose looked down. Her lower leg was covered in white plaster from her toes to her knee, and she hated it. She felt helpless, which she hated more than anything in the world. She wanted to bolt, to run away. The irony, of course, being that running was the one thing she couldn't do right now. While Cyborg went to get her a pair of crutches, Robin gave her a hug. She didn't resist, but she couldn't bring herself to hug back, either.

Suddenly, Robin grabbed a marker off the table and started writing on Rose's cast. She almost protested, but held back to see what he was writing. He smiled at her and said "I know what you're worried about, and it's never going to happen. And now you've got a little reminder of that for the next month.". Rose looked down and saw "Get well soon: Your friend forever, Robin" written on the cast. She wasn't the emotional type, but even she had to admit that was pretty sweet.

A while later, Rose hobbled out of the medlab, balancing precariously on her new crutches. Robin was hovering over her, making sure she didn't fall. Cassie, watching from the side, couldn't resist making a jab or two at her nemesis.

"Nice cast, Kid Deathstroke. Guess I don't have to worry about you picking any fights with me for a while."

"Uh-huh. I could still kick your ass on these things, Wonder Bra."

As Cassie and Rose were sniping at each other, Robin and Cyborg shared a look. They both knew what it meant: For the next month, we're down to three. The team was in serious trouble.

That night, while lying in bed with her foot propped up, Rose couldn't stop looking at the signature on her cast. Robin was a teammate. It's never a good idea to mix business with pleasure. Right?

In a nearby bar, a young man watched Titans Tower from the distance. He had plotted to invade it and kill his nemesis, Superboy countless times. But then Superboy had been killed, dying to save the world. And he was without a mission. Because he had been created for the sole purpose of destroying Superboy, and now he had no direction. He was Superboy's Match, and now he was nobody. As he finished his drink, he saw a man sit down next to him. He turned and stared into the face of Lex Luthor.

"Hello, Match."

"How the hell do you know who I am, Baldy?"

"I'm your father. Of course I know who you are. And once I'm done with you, so will you."

Before Match could react, Luthor hit him with a green mist from a mace can. Match realized that it must be Kryptonite right before everything went dark, and he hit the floor unconscious.

End chapter one.


	2. Perfect Match

It took a while for Match's vision to clear when he woke up. What he could see is that he was strapped to a gurney in a dingy laboratory with no windows that he could see. The flimsy bonds that held him to the table should have been easy enough to snap, were it not for the hunk of Kryptonite hanging from his neck. He was about to plot his escape when Luthor walked in.

"Like your new look, son?"

Luthor held up a mirror to Match's face, and the boy gasped. His wavy blond hair had been straightened and dyed black. His street clothing were gone, and replaced with a duplicate of the costume that Superboy had died in. I thought I was rid of him, he thought to himself. Now I'm being made into him.

"What the hell is this, Luthor? Some kind of joke?"

"No joke at all. I'm simply showing you who you really are. I grieved when my son was taken from me before his time. But then I remembered. I didn't have one son, I had two. Granted, you always were nothing but a spare, but you'll have to do now. When I cloned the two of you, you didn't think I wouldn't prepare for eventualities, did you? There's a back-up memory implant, hidden in the back of your brain. All I have to do is trigger it, and I'll have my son back, exactly as he was. And you'll be gone like the pile of spare parts that you are. Maybe this time, he'll see who his real friends are."

Before Match could react, Luthor produced a large steel helmet, which he strapped on the boy's head. Match screamed as a needle inserted itself into the back of his skull, and before he could fight it, memories that weren't his began flooding into his mind, unwanted.

Beach bunnies on the island of Oahu.

Dubbilex, Roxy Leech, and Mack Harlan. He thought they were friends for some reason, even if he didn't recognize them.

A makeover, resulting in a slightly less lame costume.

A brief tenure as Super of an apartment building. A really bad pun, he thought.

The Three Musketeers. The brainy one, the spazzy one, and Superboy.

A kindly couple in a farm in Kansas, giving him not only a home, but a family.

A beautiful blonde-haired girl, with a sense of humor and determination that could rival his. Their first kiss, followed by being thrown into the stratosphere by Wonder Woman.

Luthor's influence taking over, and the damage he did to his friends.

His first time with Cassie, followed by the quest to save the world from an evil doppelganger.

The feeling of life leaving him, and one last kiss from the girl he loved……

They weren't his memories, but somehow, they started being blurred with the ones that were. He was starting to forget who he was, but with one burst of energy, he used his tactile telekinesis to destroy the helmet, and throw the Kryptonite far enough away so that he could break out of his bonds.

Luthor smirked "Now, Conner, I know this must be jarring, but – "

Match grabbed Luthor and threw him against the wall. He had the sudden urge to issue a smart-assed reply, but he didn't know where it was coming from. But he knew he had to get out of there.

Breaking through the wall and flying away as fast as he could, he was bombarded by the new memories boring into his brain. They weren't real, he told himself. And yet he found he couldn't really tell what was real and what was not anymore. He knew these things had happened to his nemesis, and yet it was like they had happened to him as well. He remembered the Titans as his enemies, but also as his friends. He remembered fighting Robin for the life of Superboy. Himself. Robin, his enemy – and his best friend. He remembered being on both sides of the war. And for the life of him, he couldn't decide which side he wanted to be on anymore. The confusion was giving him a splitting headache, and he found himself heading for the only place he could think of as home.

Ravager was bored out of her mind. Her cast and crutches were keeping her from doing just about anything interesting (which, in her opinion, generally consisted of hurting people who deserved it), and she was left to veg in front of the TV watching what passed for entertainment. Although she did find watching Americans eat bugs for money amusing for a short time, it quickly grew old. And she didn't really have anyone to hang out with. Cyborg was out recruiting, while Wonder Girl was spending the night at home with her mother(Not that they would have hung out in the first place). Robin was at the Tower, but he was so wrapped up in his mysterious science project that he had barely poked his head out all night. She was tempted to sneak up on him and find out what it was exactly, but she remembered that she wasn't exactly the picture of stealth right now. So she grabbed the remote, and flipped to another channel. A cat reality show. This should amuse for a few moments, she thought. Suddenly, she was surprised by a hand covering her eye. She reacted instinctively, flipping the intruder over her shoulder into the coffee table. Seeing clearly, she could see Robin picking himself up from the broken pile of wood.

"Good to see your reflexes aren't getting rusty."

"You psycho! What was up with you startling me like that?"

"It's called a surprise. I wanted to make sure you were doing okay."

That was kind of sweet, Rose thought. But she still hated being surprised.

"You could have said hi."

"Yeah, but I never was one to be normal." Robin grinned. "So, anything interesting on TV?"

"Cats, apparently. I'm bored out of my mind, and I've only had this stupid cast on for a day."

"So, do you want to get out of here and do something?"

"Like what? In case you forgot, I'm not exactly Speedy Gonzales right now."

"I didn't mean crimefighting or anything like that. There's a Kung Fu movie festival at the Gotham Arclight. You up to six straight hours of guys kicking each other in the head?"

"What, are you asking me out on a date, Boy Wonder?"

Robin sputtered and looked away, which was sort of an answer in and of itself. Rose grinned. Ravager may be out of action for the next month, but that didn't mean Rose Wilson couldn't have a little fun.

Flying back to Titans Tower after having yet another argument with her mother over how much time she spends fighting crime as opposed to studying, Cassie really wasn't in the mood for a battle. So she was more than a little annoyed when she saw the intruder alarm going off at Titans Tower. And what's more, there were no other Titans in the vicinity, which meant it was all up to her. She was ready for a fight, but what she saw in the hallway nearly made her fall to her knees.

It was Superboy. He looked exactly like he did right before he died. She saw him die. She held him as he took his last breath, and yet here he was, lying in the hallway, barely conscious. It was a trick, It had to be. But what if it wasn't?

"Cassie….."

"Conner? Can you hear me?"

"I'm not Conner. I'm……I don't know."

But Cassie wasn't listening. She ran out of the room and hit the alert button on her communicator to summon the rest of the Titans. She didn't know who this boy was, she just knew she couldn't be around him. Because if it wasn't Conner, she couldn't stand losing him again.


End file.
